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LINCOLN AND THE 
CONVENTION OF 1860 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE 

CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

APRIL 4, 1918 



BY 



ADDISON G. PROCTER 

DELEGATE FROM KANSAS TO THE CONVENTION THAT 
NOMINATED LINCOLN AND DELEGATE FROM MICHIGAN 
TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF J916 




y 




AnnisoN G. Proci br 



LINCOLN AND THE 
CONVENTION OF 1860 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE 

CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

APRIL 4, 1918 



BY 



ADDISON G. PROCTER 

DELEGATE FROM KANSAS TO THE CONVENTION THAT 
NOMINATED LINCOLN AND DELEGATE FROM MICHIGAN 
TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1916 




CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
1918 






I'- 

,>/.*-^ nm p.9 1919 



LINCOLN AND HIS TIMES 
By Addison G. Procter 

Youngest Delegate to the Convention of i860 That 
Nominated Lincoln 

The year i860 introduced into our national life 
Abraham Lincoln, one of the most remarkable, and 
certainly the most interesting character that had graced 
our history since the time of Washington. 

How this man, born to poverty and obscurity, whose 
life from its earliest days to middle age was one con- 
tinuous struggle for a bare existence, — who came to 
the State of Illinois at the age of twenty-one a raw ' 
backwoodsman, clothed in the homespun that he had' 
earned by the splitting of rails, — how this man cop-Id 
have so impressed himself on the people of that great 
State, and of this great Nation, as to become the chosen 
and accepted leader of a great national party at the 
most critical time in the affairs of this country, must 
always remain one of the interesting chapters of our 
political history. 

There met that year in the city of Chicago in the 
month of May a convention composed of 466 delegates 
from the Northern and border states of the South. 
They were men of strong convictions, who had met 
for a very decided purpose. Slavery, as a political 
power, had been growing more and more aggressive, 
and dictatorial. It had trampled upon all of the com- 
promises, had outraged the moral sensibilities of the 
North by its fugitive slave law, and under cover of a 
recent supreme court decision it was attempting to 
force itself into the free territories of the Northwest, 



aad so the temper of that convention was that of exas- 
peration. 

To the west, stretching from the valley of the Mis- 
souri River, to the far off Pacific Ocean, lay one great 
undeveloped empire, promising, as we all realized, 
tremendous possibilities. To that great empire of the 
West, this convention invited the people of the world, 
to come and help in its development, and to share in 
its prosperity, and pledged the faith of that great party 
that they represented to the dedicating for all time of 
this great empire to the upbuilding and maintaining 
of free homes for free men, and so, like an intrepid 
gladiator this convention strode into the national arena, 
threw its gauntlet of defiance into the face of slavery, 
and proclaimed — thus far may thou go, but no farther. 

This great purpose of the convention having been 
determined and made a part of the platform on which 
they stood, by an unanimous vote, the next, and most 
vital question was — to whom in view of this emergency 
we are creating, can we dare to entrust the leadership? 
That was the question that gave us pause. 

There had come to that convention, largely from the 
East, a well organized body of delegates demanding 
the nomination for the Presidency of Senator Wm. H. 
Seward of New York. Mr. Seward had been promi- 
nent in National affairs for many years. As Governor 
of the great State of New York, and as United States 
Senator he had attracted unusual attention by his ability 
and clear statesmanship. He was by all odds the most 
prominent man of his party at that time. He was repre- 
sented in that delegation by many of the most noted 
political manipulators of his party under the leader- 
ship of Thurlow Weed, the most adroit politician of 
his day. Seward had come to that convention backed 



by this great element, full of confidence, lacking less 
than sixty votes of enough to control that entire conven- 
tion, pledged to him on that first ballot. The advent of 
the Seward delegations from the East into Chicago was 
the spectacular event of the pre-convention days. 

Outside this great movement for Seward all seemed 
confusion and disintegration. 

Vermont was asking for the nomination of her able 
and popular Senator, Jacob Collimer, who had filled 
many places, including a cabinet membership, and 
Supreme Judgeship, and always with honor. 

New Jersey was asking for the nomination of her 
Judge and Senator, William L. Dayton, who had stood 
with Fremont four years before, and gone down to 
defeat on a ticket that many suggested "Had the head 
where the tail ought to be." 

Pennsylvania was asking for the nomination of her 
able, aggressive Senator, Simon Cameron, with the 
whole Penn delegation at his call. 

Ohio was urging the nomination of her splendid 
specimen of Senator and statesman, Salmon P. Chase, 
afterward our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

Missouri, with a splendid delegation made up of a 
new element that everyone wanted to encourage, was 
asking for the naming of her eminent jurist. Judge 
Edward Bates. 

And Illinois was there with a united and very active 
delegation asking for the nomination of a man, who 
was neither judge nor senator, just a plain citizen, 
Abraham Lincoln. 

This was the condition confronting us as we faced 
the responsibility of that nomination for leadership. 

We had come to that convention from far away 
Kansas, from "out on the border." We had been mak- 



ing a very determined fight against the aggressions of 
the slave power, a conflict that had attracted the atten- 
tion of the entire country and had been of such value 
to the party that they, through their national commit- 
tee, had invited us to a full participation in the councils 
of the convention. For this reason our little delegation 
of six were the recipients of many marked attentions. 

The morning of our arrival we were invited to an 
interview with Thurlow Weed at his parlor at the 
Richmond House. 

We had a touch of trepidation as we contemplated 
being ushered into the presence of this noted political 
mogul, but we braced up our courage and went. He 
met us at the door of his parlor. We were introduced, 
as we passed in, by our Chairman and seated about the 
big round table in the center of the parlor. 

Mr. Weed was most gracious in his manner, and 
dispelled all terror from the start. He stood by the 
table while we were seated about him and addressed 
each one of us personally, calling each of us by name, 
which appealed to us as something remarkable, seeing 
that our introduction was so informal. That ability 
was probably one of the secrets of his wonderful influ- 
ence, the ability to associate the name and the face, an 
adroit quality, essential to the successful politician. He 
was an attractive man and very interesting. After com- 
plimenting us on the good work accomplished out on 
the border and thanking us most graciously for the 
service rendered to the country and to the party he 
turned to the question of the impending nomination. 

He said, "Four years ago we went to Philadelphia to 
name our candidate and we made one of the most inex- 
cusable blunders any political party has ever made in 
this country. We nominated a man who had no quali- 



fication for the position of Chief Magistrate of this 
Republic. "Why," he said, "that boy Fremont had 
not one single quality to commend him for the Presi- 
dency. The Country realized this. We were defeated 
as we probably deserved to be and we have that lesson 
of defeat before us today." He went on to say, "We 
are facing a crisis; there are troublous times ahead of 
us. We all recognize that. What this country will 
demand as its chief executive for the next four years 
is a man of the highest order of executive ability, a 
man of real statesmanlike qualities, well known to the 
Country, and of large experience in national affairs. No 
other class of men ought to be considered at this time. 
We think we have in Mr. Seward just the qualities the 
Country will need. He is known by us all as a states- 
man. As Governor of New York he has shown splendid 
executive ability. As Senator he has shown himself to 
be a statesman, and a political philosopher. He is espe- 
cially equipped in a knowledge of our foreign relations, 
and will make a candidate to whom our people can 
look with a feeling of security. We expect to nominate 
him on the first ballot, and to go before the Country 
full of courage and confidence." He thanked us for 
the call and gave each of us a friendly handshake at 
parting. 

As he stood at our table, so gracious, so assuring, so 
genial and friendly, with all our previous estimate of 
him dispelled, I was reminded of Byron's picture of 
his Corsair as "the mildest mannered man that ever 
scuttled ship or cut a throat," politically, of course. 

We had hardly gotten back to our rooms at the 
Briggs House when in came Horace Greeley, dressed 
in his light drab suit with soft felt hat which he threw 
carelessly on our table. A clear red and white com- 



plexion, blue eyes and flaxen hair, he looked, as he 
stood there, for all the world like a well-to-do dairy 
farmer fresh from his clover field. He was certainly an 
interesting figure, and he seemed to find a place in our 
hearts at a bound. As a journalist he was full of com- 
pliments for the good news we had furnished to his 
Tribune and we were all drawn to him by his irresist- 
ible smile. 

"I suppose they are telling you," said Greeley in a 
drawly tone, "that Seward is the be all and the end all 
of our existence as a party, our great statesman, our 
profound philosopher, our pillar of cloud by day, our 
pillar of fire by night, but I want to tell you boys that 
in spite of all this you couldn't elect Seward if you 
could nominate him. You must remember as things 
stand today we are a sectional party. We have no 
strength outside the North, practically we must have 
the entire North with us if we hope to win. Now, 
there are states of the North that cannot be induced 
to support Seward, and without these states we cannot 
secure electoral votes enough to elect. So, to name 
Seward, is to invite defeat. He cannot carry New Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, or Iowa, and I will bring 
to you representative men from each of these states who 
will confirm what I say." And sure enough he did, 
bringing to us Governor Andy Curtain of Pennsylvania, 
Governor Henry S. Lane of Indiana, Governor Kirk- 
wood of Iowa, each of whom confirmed what Greeley 
had said and gave their reasons for the belief. 

Governor Curtain was particularly emphatic. He 
said, "I am the Republican candidate for Governor. At 
the last national election Mr. Buchanan carried Penn- 
sylvania by 50,000 majority. I expect to be elected on 
the Republican ticket by as large a majority as Mr. 

8 



Buchanan had on the Democratic ticket, making a 
change of 100,000 votes, but I can only do this if you 
give me a man as presidential candidate acceptable to 
my people. I could not win with Mr. Seward as our 
candidate." He was a bright looking, enthusiastic, 
young fellow, and had every indication of making what 
he later proved to be, one of the most valuable of our 
war governors. Governor Lane and Governor Kirk- 
wood both gave the same evidence touching Indiana and 
Iowa. This was the work of Horace Greeley, to satisfy 
the convention that the nomination of Seward would 
mean defeat, and he certainly did effective work. 

We had calls from strong men, all in a wide awake 
determination to meet the demands of the emergency, 
among them Governor John A. Andrews of Massa- 
chusetts with quite a group of New England delegates. 
But Greeley was the most untiring of workers. I doubt 
if Horace Greeley slept three consecutive hours during 
the entire session of that convention. 

The afternoon of the day before we were likely to 
reach the balloting Greeley came in to see us. He was 
very much discouraged. He could see no way to efifect 
a consolidation of the elements opposed to Seward and 
he feared that Seward would win on the first ballot. 
He seemed tired and depressed. "Mr. Greeley," said 
one of our delegates. 'Who do you really prefer to 
see nominated, tell us?" Greeley hesitated a moment 
and sort of bracing up he said, "I believe Edward 
Bates of Missouri is the safest nomination for us to 
make. He is a very able man and he comes from a 
section that we ought to have with us. He is not well 
known in the East, and for that reason I am hesitating 
in urging him strongly but he would make a good 



candidate and an able President if elected, but I am 
hesitating." 

"Mr. Greeley," said one of our group, "What do you 
think of Abraham Lincoln as a candidate? Why not 
urge him?" "Lincoln," said Mr. Greeley, speaking very 
slowly as if weighing each word, "is a very adroit 
politician. He has a host of friends out here in Illinois 
who seem to see something in him that the rest of us 
haven't seen yet. He has a very interesting history that 
would make good campaign literature, but the trouble 
with Lincoln is this, he has had no experience in Na- 
tional affairs, and facing a crisis as we all believe, I 
doubt if such a nomination would be acceptable. It is 
too risky an undertaking. I think Bates would be safer." 
And that was Horace Greeley, the leader of the opposi- 
tion, only a few hours before we would reach the actual 
balloting. 

Soon after Greeley had gone we got a message on a 
card saying: "A company of Unionists from the 
border states would like to meet you in your rooms." 
"Have them come, right away," was our reply to the 
messenger. Soon there came pushing their way into 
our little parlor a group of about thirty of as resolute 
a looking body of men as I had ever seen, and I had 
seen some of that stamp I thought out on the border. 
They were of that sharp eyed, broad jawed, Scotch 
Irish type; the typical mountaineers of the South, in- 
tense, and volcanic, standing for something, and stand- 
ing resolutely. We realized instantly that the intense 
moments had come. We hurriedly arranged our room 
to seat as many as we could, and the others stood against 
the four walls, filling the room so that we felt that we 
were in close touch with some full charged electric 
battery. 



As Clay stepped forward and stood at the head of 
our table at which we were all seated there was a deep 
intense silence, for a moment. As he stood posed there, 
ready, he was the ideal Kentucky Colonel with all the 
mannerisms of that element so well pictured in our 
literature. A fascinating man, handsome to look upon, 
faultlessly dressed, keen, bright and emotional. We 
could not keep our eyes off as he stood like a waiting 
orator charged with a volcanic mission. As he stepped 
closer to the table, leaning forward with a sort of con- 
fidential gesture, speaking right into our very faces he 
said, "Gentlemen, we are on the brink of a great Civil 
War." He paused as if to note the effect. He seemed 
to have caught a look of incredulity creeping over our 
faces that he chose to interpret in his own way. 
Straightening himself, looking every inch the orator 
he said: "You undoubtedly have heard that remark be- 
fore, but I want you to know that that fact will soon be 
flashed to you in a way you will more readily compre- 
hend. Gentlemen, we are from the South and we want 
you to know that the South is preparing for war. If 
the man that you nominate at this convention should 
be elected on the platform you have already adopted the 
South will attempt the destruction of this Union. On 
your southern border stretching from the east coast of 
Maryland to the Ozarks of Missouri there stand today 
a body of resolute men (of whom these are the represen- 
tatives) who are determined that this Union shall not 
be dissolved except at the end of a terrible struggle in 
resistance. 

"It makes a wonderful difference who you name for 
this leadership at this time, a wonderful difference to 
you but a vital difference to us. Our homes and all we 
possess are in peril, we realize just what is before us. 



These men of the southern border had chosen as their 
spokesman Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky. 
You must give us a leader at this time who will inspire 
our confidence and our courage. We must have such 
a leader or we are lost. We have such a man — a man 
who we will follow to the end. We want your help," 
and leaning forward in a half suppressed whisper, he 
said, "We want you to name Abraham Lincoln. He 
was born among us and we believe he understands us. 

"You give us Lincoln and we will push back your 
battle lines from the Ohio (right at your doors) back 
across the Tennessee into the regions where it belongs. 
You give us Lincoln and we will join this Union 
strength full of enthusiasm with your Union Army and 
drive secession to its lair. Do this for us and let us go 
home and prepare for the conflict?" 

Here was a new issue, just at a psychological moment, 
when everyone realized that something unusual had to 
happen. Up to this time it had been "how shall we 
keep slavery out of the territories?" Now it was the 
question, "how shall we make sure to preserve this 
Union?" On this new line of formation the army was 
drawn up for its new drive. 

This impassioned appeal of Clay, first given to us, 
reached the many hesitating delegates, and aroused a 
new vitalization all along the line. Probably the more 
conservative presentation of the issue made by Gover- 
nor Henry S. Lane of Indiana did much to supplement 
the more volcanic work of Clay. 

Lane said to us. "I am Governor of Indiana. I 
know my people well. In the south half of my State 
a good proportion of my people have come from Slave 
States of the South. They were poor people, forced to 
work for a living, and they did not want to bring up 



xa 



their families to labor in competition with the slaves, 
so they have moved to Indiana to get away from that 
influence. They will not tolerate slavery in Indiana 
or in our free territories but they will not oppose it 
where it is, if it will only stay there. These people 
want a man of the Lincoln type as their President. 
They are afraid Seward would be influenced by that 
abolition element of the East and make war on slavery 
where it is. This they do not want, so they believe 
Lincoln understanding this as one of their kind would 
be acceptable and would probably get the support of 
this entire element. If at any time the South should 
undertake in the interest of slavery to destroy this 
Union we can depend on everyone of this class to 
shoulder his musket and go to the front in defense of 
a United Nation even at the cost of slavery itself." 

This new issue, fostered by the strong Illinois dele- 
gation under the adroit leadership of David Davis, 
pressed by the impetuous oratory of Clay and 
strengthened by the sincere and convincing arguments 
of Governor Lane of Indiana, was the real prevailing 
influence that brought cohesion out of disintegration 
and centered the full strength of the opposition on the 
one man. It was an adroit piece of work, as effective as 
it was adroit. 

As the spectre of civil war loomed before us, be- 
coming more and more convincing and menacing, we 
came to realize the need of conserving that element. 
It grew on us that this element might be a controlling 
factor in the great struggle before us. It might be de- 
cisive and the thought gave us deep concern. 

Later when the conflict was upon us and we saw 200, 
000 of these fighting men from our slave states of the 
border enlisted in our Union army, we more fully real- 



ms 



ized the vital influence and superb wisdom of that 
final decision. 

But the battle was not over. Strong appeals were 
being made by both elements. The Seward forces 
pressed the great fact of known ability, of great ex- 
perience, of large acquaintance, its ability to control an 
element to finance a hard campaign: an element that 
might help to overcome any factional opposition in the 
doubtful states. 

The opposition delegates centered around their man 
were pleading for a more complete recognition of the 
West as the coming factor in the growth and strengthen- 
ing of the party, and while conceding the value of the 
ability that comes from experience, claimed for their 
man an abundance of common sense on which they 
could appeal to the people with safety. This, with the 
great fact of the demands of that border element for 
consideration, that it was not safe to ignore, gave 
strength to the appeal of the opposition. 

The issue was sharp, keen and decisive. The call 
to the battle of the ballot brought us face to face with 
the demand for a duty we could not shirk, or we would 
not if we could. We felt the full weight of the responsi- 
bility, a responsibility that by our act might involve the 
very existence of the Republic. We knew that our man, 
whoever he might be, must be depended on to carry 
the nation through the most critical experience of its 
history. The coming events were casting their dread 
shadows before us. It was an ordeal. All I can say is — 
we simply put our trust in God, and He who makes no 
mistakes gave us Abraham Lincoln. 

Lincoln having been nominated and the excitement 
and confusion of a great convention over, we soon came 
to realize that the country was not fully in accord with 

14 



the risk we had assumed. "What does it mean?" That 
was the message from every direction. As a fact of 
unwritten history, I may say right here that the nomina- 
tion of Lincoln at that time created at first over a large 
portion of the North more anxiety than enthusiasm. 
Though the Seward element, especially those from 
New York, made a splendid showing of graceful yield- 
ing to the will of the majority, we all felt that a 
campaign of education was before us. 

Hearing that the Michigan delegation was prepar- 
ing to make their return eventful, that a special train 
had been chartered over the Michigan Central road 
from Chicago to Detroit with cars to be decorated with 
Lincoln's portrait and mottoes starting the campaign, 
"setting the ball to rolling for Lincoln," as they 
expressed it, I went over to the Michigan headquarters. 
I had decided to take a trip to my old home in the East 
and wanted to be a part of this excursion through 
Michigan for that part of my journey. Governor 
Austin Blair was exhorting his group of listeners to 
forget their disappointments, (for Michigan had been 
for Seward from start to finish) and unite for an en- 
thusiastic beginning of the campaign. I arranged for a 
place in that crowd of excursionists. 

We left Chicago early the next morning in decorated 
cars. Governor Blair had telegraphed to the impor- 
tant stations along the road of our coming, urging a 
turnout to meet the train with all the enthusiasm they 
could muster. We stopped at all the big cities on 
that road from Niles to Detroit. Good crowds 
met us at all the stops. Governor Blair and other 
speakers would alight and make earnest appeals to 
the crowds, occasionally someone would shout "Three 
cheers for Governor Blair," which were given with a 

15 



will, but during that whole day, from Niles to Detroit, 
not one crowd offered a single cheer for Lincoln. It 
was a nipping frost all the way and set us all to think- 
ing, what next? The further we went East the more 
pronounced this showing of disappointment became. 

I had been at my old home some weeks and among 
the younger element there was a growing feeling that 
there ought to be something doing in the way of organ- 
ization for campaign work. I went to one of our older 
citizens, a man prominent for years in local affairs, a 

sort of political oracle and I said to him, "Mr. C 

we are going to organize a Lincoln Club tomorrow 
evening and we want you to preside and give us some- 
thing to enthuse," He said, "I won't do it," most 
emphatically. "Why not?" I asked. "I will tell you 
why not," he replied. "You fellows knew at Chicago 
what this country is facing. You knew we are up against 
the most critical time in the life of this Nation. You 
knew that it will take the very best ability we can 
produce to pull us through. You knew that above 
everything else these times demanded a statesman and 
you have gone and given us a rail splitter. No, I will 
not preside or attend." 

It may seem strange to us now but this sentiment 
reflected the feelings of a good proportion of our people 
all over the East and North. It had to be met by strong 
faith and real work. 

The campaign started heavily. Enthusiasm was lack- 
ing and conditions were getting more and more 
desperate. In this state of the public mind, waiting 
and watching, all at once there came the announcement 
that Mr. Seward was about to take the platform and 
open the campaign for Lincoln. It was our first gleam 
of sunshine from out of the depths of discouragement. 

i6 



Mr. Seward was a big man. We knew that the country 
would listen to what he had to say. He opened the 
campaign first in the West probably to get some of that 
western spirit so lacking in the East. His political 
addresses at that time were masterpieces of eloquence 
and patriotism. Immense crowds greeted him wher- 
ever he spoke. He seemed to grow with the occasion. 
It was a wonderful exhibition of unselfish devotion to 
his party, and what the party stood for. We ought 
never to forget Seward for his splendid work in that 
campaign. He proved himself a patriot, and a true, 
loyal Republican. 

As the campaign progressed the awakening brought 
into cooperation a new element that up to this time 
had held itself aloof from active participation in party 
politics. This was the radical Anti-Slavery group, the 
Abolitionists as they were called. This element made 
their appeals on high moral grounds. They controlled 
the most eloquent class of speakers in that campaign, a 
class of unselfish men and women, working without any 
thought of compensation, devoted to the work of arous- 
ing public sentiment against the wickedness of Slavery. 
With the "Wide Awakes" furnishing the cheers, and 
this element awakening the moral sentiment of our 
people to action, the campaign soon put on an intensity 
that was overwhelming. It was a great moral upheaval 
all over the North, and when the sixth day of Novem- 
ber came we found we had secured the electoral vote 
of every Northern State from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, giving us a new birth of Freedom for our herit- 
age, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN as our accepted 
leader. 

We had hardly gotten over our first shoutings for 

»7 



victory won, when we were startled by events, more 
drastic than any of us had anticipated. 

Only two days after Mr. Lincoln's election, President 
Buchanan issued an order through his Secretary of 
War, placing Major Beauregard, an avowed dis- 
unionist, in charge of our Military Academy at West 
Point. This awakened us to a new danger. A Presi- 
dent in the hands of the disloyal, with four months to 
intervene, before the voice of our people could be made 
effective. 

You may search through our American history from 
those primitive days of Washington down to these deep, 
broad, eventful days of Woodrow Wilson, and no where 
will you find a time or a season when this Republic of 
ours came so near to a complete collapse as during those 
days between the election and the inauguration of Mr. 
Lincoln. 

For the first time in our history we had elected a 
president who was openly opposed to the extension of 
slavery. 

The South with its four millions of slaves, and its 
four hundred millions invested in slave products, took 
instant alarm, and in the spirit of the Cavalier, without 
stopping to count the cost, rushed madly into secession. 
The North, with its infusion of Pilgrim blood, moving 
calmly and slow and cool, hesitated and talked concilia- 
tion, for the North more fully realized at first the cost 
and terrors of war. 

Unfortunately the South mistook this conciliatory 
spirit for a species of cowardice and became more obdu- 
rate and aggressive than ever. Then came over the 
North one of the most strange manifestations of public 
feeling the Republic had ever known. It was like a 
great hush impending a terrible calamity, "Be care- 
ts 



ful," "Say nothing," "Do nothing, to fan this flame of 
disunion," "Speak softly," "Keep control of your tongue 
and your pen," "Let the South get over its madness," 
"Don't precipitate collision." This was the feeling 
manifested on every side all over the North. 

They had called a public meeting in Boston to con- 
sider the value of the Union. It was a big meeting of 
the solid men of Boston. Everett and Hilliard had 
spoken eloquently of the work of holding a united coun- 
try picturing a dissolution as meaning that grass would 
grow in their streets, and their great ships would lay 
rotting at their wharves until restoration should come. 
When the chairman said "I see we have with us this 
evening a distinguished citizen always patriotic, always 
eloquent. I am sure we shall all be glad to listen to 
Wendell Phillips." Hardly had he mentioned the 
name of Phillips when that great crowd of conservative 
business men broke into a yelling mob and "no, no, no," 
rung out from all parts of the hall and before Phillips 
could say a word this mob seized him and in spite of 
a vigorous attempt at rescue by his immediate friends 
thrust him bodily out of the hall for fear he might say 
something that would offend the South. 

George Wm. Curtis of New York, one of the finest 
scholars and orators of that time, the man who made 
the most thrilling appeal for the inserting of a portion 
of the "Declaration of Independence" in the platform 
before the Lincoln convention, was invited to come to 
Philadelphia to speak. He had announced, "The 
Policy of Honesty" as his subject. When he reached 
Philadelphia that evening he found a mob of citizens 
blocking the way to the hall, defiant and riotous. The 
owners of the hall fearing the destruction that might 
follow his attempt to speak there closed the building 

«9 



and Curtis went back to New York without being able 
to say a word to those who had invited him to come, 
and so free speech, one of the guarantees of the Con- 
stitution, a plank in the republican platform just re- 
adopted at a National Convention, was absolutely 
denied in two of the largest republican cities of the 
country within thirty days of the election of a repub- 
lican President on a free speech platform. 

And that was the condition of the public mind when 
President Buchanan called Congress together for its 
last session during his term and sent to that Congress 
the most unfortunate message ever delivered as a public 
document in the entire history of this nation. A 
message practically approving and excusing the South 
for its extreme defiance of constitutional demands, and 
asserting the monstrous doctrine that there was no 
power in Congress, or any other department of our 
government to coerce any State into remaining in the 
Union that desired to withdraw. Nothing ever pro- 
claimed by any chief magistrate of this republic has 
ever approached this in reckless disregard of the fixed 
purpose on which the whole fabric of our nationality 
must rest. The effect of this message was bewildering. 
Citizens with anxious expression asked: "Is Repub- 
lican Government a failure? Is there no cohesive 
power in our system? Is this Republic, founded by a 
Washington, through seven years of exhausting war- 
fare, a Republic that has been the beacon light of the 
liberty loving people of the world for all of these years, 
to be allowed to crumble to pieces?" And there was 
no response. 

Then came the report of that committee on concilia- 
tion consisting of 33 members, one from each state, all 
able men, with Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts 



20 



as chairman, offering to throw into the scale as the price 
of peace all we had gained in twenty years of anti- 
slavery agitation, practically eliminating the right of 
petition in all matters pertaining to slavery, and even 
that met with no response. Passion was in the saddle, 
and conciliation was thrown to the winds. The re- 
fusal to consider this on the part of the South has been 
aptly termed by one of her most illustrious sons, still 
living, to be the most inexcusable blunder of which the 
South has ever been guilty. 

Then followed disasters thick and fast. 

General Twiggs on the southwestern border treach- 
erously surrendered the whole army of the southwest 
without resistance, throwing more than a million 
dollars worth of army supplies into the hands of our 
enemies in Texas, just as we needed them the most. 

Louisiana backed her wagons up to the door of the 
United States Mint at New Orleans and took a half 
million newly coined dollars and removed them to her 
own vaults without a hand being raised in opposition. 

New Orleans had assembled a fleet of armed boats, 
seized the two forts below the city, put a chain across 
the river and blockaded the Mississippi against the 
commerce of the world, for the first time since the days 
of LaSalle. Batteries were being erected along our 
Southern coast line in the rear of our national forts to 
destroy if they could not control. Seven states had 
withdrawn from the Union and were organizing a 
hostile government under a hostile flag at Mont- 
gomery. South Carolina had appointed a commission 
to demand a quit claim deed to the lands on which our 
forts stood in her harbors on the plea that she was a 
sovereign state and the United States government was 
trespassing on her territory. Every department of our 



government was honeycombed by treason and disloyalty. 
Our army had become reduced to less than ten thou- 
sand men, and they were mostly on the Indian borders. 
Our navy had been so distributed that there were not 
armed vessels enough between our yards at Norfolk 
and Portsmouth to blockade a single port, and our na- 
tional treasury was so near to bankruptcy that Secre- 
tary Dix was offering twelve per cent interest in New 
York for money enough to carry the administration 
through to the end. One dark cloud of uncertainty and 
distrust enveloped our entire horizon. The republic 
seemed to be groping its way toward dissolution. 

We looked through all this gloom one day in Feb- 
ruary, 1861, to Illinois and we saw standing at the rail- 
way station of her capital city a tall, angular, kindly 
faced man, the centre of a group of friends, greeting 
him with their good wishes and farewells. It was our 
President-elect about to start on his journey to the 
Capitol to assume charge of the Government. 

As Mr. Lincoln took his place on the rear platform 
of the car that was to take him on his journey, his 
friends gathered closely about him to hear what he 
might have to say. With a heart full of emotion look- 
ing into their anxious upturned faces Mr. Lincoln said, 
''My friends — No one, not in my position, can appre- 
ciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To you I owe all 
that I am. Here I have lived for more than a quarter of 
a century, here my children were born, and here one 
of them lies buried. I know not when I shall meet you 
again. A duty devolves on me such as has devolved on 
no man of this nation since Washington. He never 
would have succeeded but for the aid of a Divine 
Providence upon which he at all times relied. I feel 
that I cannot succeed without that same divine assist- 



ance and on that almighty arm I lean for support, and 
I want you, my friends, to pray that I may have that 
support without which I cannot succeed, but with 
which success is certain. I bid you all an affectionate 
farewell." 

As the train bearing Mr. Lincoln toward the Capitol 
made its way East great multitudes assembled at the 
stations to meet him for the first time and to hear what 
he might have to say. Up to this time Mr. Lincoln 
was practically unknown outside of Illinois. He had 
taken no part in the campaign, preferring to remain at 
Springfield and to meet his friends there. He had 
shown that "adroitness," that Greeley had spoken of, 
in avoiding many entangling suggestions designed to 
draw him out to his disadvantage, and had given the 
opposition no club to drive home their special scares. 
The deep feeling of solicitude over the prevailing con- 
ditions made the greetings peculiarly impressive in 
their lack of the usual enthusiasm. We all realized the 
tremendous responsibilities ahead of him. He seemed 
to be the last prop on which the whole structure must 
rest. And so as he went on his way all we could say 
was: 

"Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
our faith, 
Trium.'hant o'er our fears, 
Are all with thee, are all with thee." 
We saw him reach the Capitol in safety through a 
danger zone that looked threatening, and our hearts 
beat more quickly than for weeks before. 

We saw him on the fourth of March standing before 
the Capitol in the presence of 20,000 people to take the 
oath that should make him President. 

It was a scene full of the deepest significance. There 
stood the venerable Chief Justice Roger Taney, in his 

23 



long black robe reaching to the platform, his thin 
white hair coming to his shoulders and his fine Roman 
face wonderfully impressive, the embodyment of that 
decree that "Freedom and slavery had equal rights 
under the national domain," and there stood our coming 
Chief Magistrate, with the entire North at his back, 
the embodyment of that other declaration, "This Na- 
tion of ours cannot permanently endure half slave and 
half free." Surely we all recognized the fact that we 
had come to the parting of the ways. It was the even- 
ing before the dawning of our new National Creation. 
As Mr. Lincoln came forward to deliver his address, 
quiet swept over that great assembly that was intense. 
All seemed to recognize the tremendous significance of 
the occasion. 

It was masterly and eflfective, the greatest argument 
for the right of a Nation to self preservation that had 
been uttered since the days of Webster. The North 
received it with supreme satisfaction. It placed Mr. 
Lincoln at once in a firm place in the confidence and 
hearts of the people. It was an inspiration to us all, 
and the country aw^oke to the fact that they had a real 
leader, one whom they could trust. Concluding he 
said: 

"I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution 
and the laws, this Union is not broken, and I shall see 
to it as the Constitution expressly enjoins upon me, that 
to the best of my ability the laws of the Union are 
faithfully enforced in all the States. I trust this may 
not be considered a menace, but as a declared purpose 
that this Union will maintain and defend itself." 

We all knew what that meant and that night, before 
the stars in their courses had glittered on the dome of 
that Capitol, this Nation knew that the great problem, 

24 



whether or not, a republic founded on the free will of 
the people could subordinate that free will to a military 
dictation and stand the shock of a civil war, was about 
to be tested. 

That evening as Mr. Lincoln went to the White 
House, sixty armed men from Kansas took shelter at 
and about that home, and were on duty there nearly 
sixty days, to guard our President against assassination, 
and they were needed. 

When you sit at your feasts and call for your great 
song of "Praise for the powers that have made and 
preserved us a Nation," think on these things. 

The first work of the President and his cabinet was 
to reinforce and strengthen the forts on our Southern 
coast line. This brought on the firing on our flag. 
Then there was a response. Then in answer to the call 
of Lincoln came the long roll of the drum, the sharp 
calls of the bugle, the unfurling of the flag, and the 
rushing forward of 75,000 volunteers to the defense of 
the capital. We thought that a fine army, as it camped 
on the Potomac in those early days full of enthusiasm. 
It was but the advance guard of a real army of a 
million that must follow before the end should come. 

Then came war. Cruel, vindictive, grim visaged 
war. At times we were wild in our exultings over 
victories, only to find ourselves the very next day sub- 
merged in the bitter waters of defeat and disaster. And 
so this went on for weeks and months, for four long 
years, with our roadways filled with stragglers and 
strugglers, the wounded and the dying pressed back by 
the awful heat of conflict at the front, while down those 
same roads, facing the other way, came regiment after 
regiment, the best blood of the nation, pressing for- 
ward to fill those awful gaps. 

25 



And through this all for that dreadful four years 
stood Mr. Lincoln inspired by the faith and the con- 
fidence of the people, stood like a rock for the integ- 
rity of the Union, for the preservation of this Nation, 
this Nation so dear to us today; Tried as no other 
man of our Nation has ever been tried. Tried by 
treason and disloyalty all about him. Tried by disap- 
pointment in men to whom he had entrusted important 
undertakings. Tried by the awful sacrifices the coun- 
try was making in blood and treasure, by the sufferings 
of the hospitals and prison pens. Tried by the per- 
plexing and domineering demands of our foreign 
relations, with only one Nation in all Europe that we 
could depend on as our friend. Tried by the appeals of 
mothers for pardons for their wayward boys, appeals 
that touched every fibre of his great heart. There he sat 
in the lone watches of the night by that single telegraph 
operator listening so intently as the sounds came in over 
the wire from the front whether they told of more 
victories or more disasters. 

By his great humanity teaching us all more charity 
and less malice, by his great faith inspiring our hope- 
fulness, by his great patience exhorting us all to wait 
calmly on God's own time when this bitter cup of civil 
war should pass from us, we were able to wait in faith 
and in patience until the integrity of this Nation was 
secure under universal liberty. Then the great 
black clouds of war rolled back and revealed to us 
Appomattox. 

Then arose the hallelujah chorus of victory. Then 
joy reigned supreme. Then mothers stood at their 
gateways looking down the roads to the South in their 
delirium of expectancy, watching for the hour, "When 
Johnnie comes marching home again." Then the 

26 



churches threw open their doors and there welled out 
on that April air "Beautiful upon the Mountains are 
the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings, that pub- 
lisheth Peace, that saith unto Zion, Thy Lord is God." 

But our triumph was of short duration for right in 
the midst of the rejoicing came that awful tragedy, 
and our leader lay dead at the hands of an assassin, 
just at the dawning of the morning when Peace like 
the first glintings of returning day "stood tip toe on 
our misty mountain tops," and this great Nation bowed 
in irrepressible grief. 

They bore his body tenderly and laid it under the 
great dome of the Capitol where for three days and 
nights came that endless procession with faces moist- 
ened by the dews of grief to take their last look on that 
face they had known so well through all those anxious 
days. There were scenes there too touching to dwell 
upon. 

It was decided that his body should have its resting 
place at his home city in the West, that the funeral 
attended by the chief men of the Government should be 
in charge of General Joe Hooker — who had come 
down from the clouds of Lookout Mountain. 

As that funeral procession reached Philadelphia 
100,000 people of that city, formed in solid ranks reach- 
ing from curb to curb, escorted that body to its night's 
rest in old Independence Hall, and there, in the sacred 
precincts of that chamber where the Republic was born, 
the very stillness was eloquent in tribute to him who 
had done so much to preserve, protect and defend its 
honor. 

But it remained for the city of New York to show 
the greatest depth of feeling ever shown by any city 
of this country before or since. New York had seemed 

27 



unkind to Mr. Lincoln during the later months of the 
war. With her more than unfriendly mayor, her crit- 
ical press and her draft riots, she had given him many 
an anxious day and many a sleepless night, but he was 
dead now, and New York seeing her mistake, stood 
ready to do penance. When the funeral procession 
reached the confines of that municipality New York 
with its thousands of arteries of trade and commerce 
stood absolutely still. The walls of Broadway were 
hung in black for miles. Great billows of crape floated 
from all the public buildings. 

As that magnificent funeral car that the city had 
provided moved slowly up that great avenue, decked 
with its thousand nodding plumes, bearing the body of 
our President, New York stood with uncovered head, 
in grateful tribute to him they had so misunderstood. 

Banners were in evidence everywhere. Banners with 
messages of honor and sympathy from all kinds of 
organizations and from all kinds and conditions of men, 
some even in foreign language, but there was one ban- 
ner with a message stretched across lower Broadway 
that attracted special attention. It seemed like a wire- 
less tribute to our imm.ortal martyr, direct from the 
immortal Bard, and this was the message: 

"After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
Treason has done its worst; 

Nor steel nor poison, malice, domestic foreign levy. 
Nothing can touch him further. 
He hath borne his faculties so meek, 
Hath been so clear in his great office, 
That his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet 

tongued. 
Against the deep damnation of his taking off." 

28 



And so this funeral procession moved on toward the 
West, each city vying with the other to see which 
could show the highest honors, and the deepest sym- 
pathy, till at last it reached its final resting place, and 
there, in the presence of the dignitaries of this great 
Nation, the body of our President, the same who had 
come to that little city years before a raw backwoods- 
man, clothed in the homespun that he had earned by 
the splitting of rails, was laid to its final rest with a 
pomp and circumstance befitting the burial of a king. 

Those were memorable days, those days of the sixties. 
They were the golden days of this Republic, the intense 
days, the days of the heroic — days of great men, and 
of grand women, days of great citizens, great states- 
men, and great soldiers. Our National Constellation 
was all aglow with stars of the first magnitude. 

The great Apostle tells us that one star differeth 
from another star in glory, and we believe this, for 
we each have our ideal among the stars, but the one 
ideal nearest today to this great loyal American heart, 
is that sad, anxious, kindly face of ABRAHAM LIN- 
COLN. There he stands without one medal on his 
breast to tell us of his valor, without one particle of 
gold lace to testify to his rank; just the plain citizen, 
but the grandest citizen ever produced by the greatest 
Republic on the face of the earth. 



29 



ADDISON G. PROCTER 

Addison G. Procter was born at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in July, 1838. 
His father was a successful merchant, the owner of a large fleet of fishing 
schooners, and was for many years a member of the Massachusetts legislation. 
Many of the descendants still reside there. 

In 1857, at the age of 19, full of enthusiasm, and the inspiration of 
"Free homes for free men," he started alone for Kansas to help in the 
struggle to make Kansas a free state. He had just graduated from the 
high school and did not know a soul west of Boston. 

He reached Kansas at the end of a two weeks' journey and found instant 
employment in the mercantile establishment of Mayor Blood of Lawrence. 
After serving there some six months he was sent to Emporia by Mayor Blood 
to take charge of the branch establishment located there. 

Emporia at that time was the radiating center of a big emigration 
pouring into the southwest part of the territory. After a year of active 
business he purchased this branch establishment and, having the only fire 
proof safe in that active section, became a sort of banker for the group of 
settlers making new homes in that attractive valley region. This gave him 
a large and popular acquaintance with the newcomers, and in April, i860, 
when the Territorial Convention, to select delegates to the National Repub- 
lican Convention at Chicago met at Lawrence, this whole section of nineteen 
counties, without a word of solicitation on his part, sent a unanimous 
delegation to the convention, urging his name as delegate, which the conven- 
tion unanimously approved. He was then but twenty-one and naturally the 
youngest of the prospective delegates. 

The struggle going on in Kansas, attracting the intense interest of the 
whole country, gave to this delegation many special opportunities to get 
into close touch with many of the famous members of that national convention 
and to learn of the inside influence and much of the unwritten history of 
the events that culminated in the nomination of Lincoln. It is this that gave 
special value to his address on that event of our national life. 

From 1861 to 1864 Mr. Procter was on a special mission to the Indian 
Territory, a work demanding courage and discretion of a high order, and 
which was especially appreciated by Secretary John P. Usher of Lincoln's 
cabinet. Returning to Emporia after three years of border life, he sold his 
business interests there and became head of a wholesale business in St. Louis, 
where for twelve years he prospered. From St. Louis he moved to Chicago, 
representing there for the next ten years the Gloucester fishery interests. In 
1889 Mr. Procter moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, where he has since resided 
in comfortable retirement, doing his part as a useful citizen, the recipient 
of many evidences of kindly interest from the good people of that community 
and from Lincoln lovers throughout the United States. 

At the request of the Michigan delegations he has occupied a platform 
seat at the two last Republican National Conventions. As far as known 
he is the sole surviving delegate to the convention of i860. Mr. Procter's 
recollections of the Lincoln convention delivered before the Chicago Historical 
Society are now published for the first time. Since its delivery last April 
the Society has received numerous letters requesting copies of this address, 
many pronouncing this the most satisfying Lincoln address the writers have 
ever listened to. 

At the age of eighty years, Mr. Procter is in splendid health and says 
he finds much in life to enjoy. In him the modern and the old school mingle 
and lend a charm that has endeared him to four generations of friends. 
But even those who looked into his boyish, cheerful face and felt the strong 
grip of his hand for the first time last April count as a high privilege this 
meeting with a man of the Lincoln stamp and the Lincoln time, "When," as 
Mr. Procter says, "all eyes turned to Illinois." 



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